Heitkamp's Bipartisan Bill to Improve Government Efficiency and Accountability Passes Senate Committee

Press Release

U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp announced that her bipartisan bill to hold federal agencies accountable to act on recommendations that save taxpayer money and make government more efficient passed out of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Heitkamp's legislation-- cosponsored by U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) -- would require all open recommendations from inspectors general (IG) at federal agencies that have remained unimplemented for more than a year to be posted to a single, searchable website. Congress and the public could then better monitor the problems that have been identified at the federal agencies where IGs conduct audits to combat waste, fraud, and abuse -- and identify whether steps have been taken to resolve those problems.

"The federal government spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year to have inspectors general review and analyze federal programs. Yet, it can be difficult to track and monitor a federal agency's efforts to resolve issues identified by inspector general recommendations," said Heitkamp. "Our bipartisan bill would make it easier to hold agencies accountable and pressure them into addressing recommendations that will help eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse in our federal government. Taxpayers deserve the ability to understand how their dollars are being used and how federal agencies are improving their operations, and today's progress means we are one step closer to providing the improved ability to track open recommendations in a straightforward and transparent manner."

Heitkamp introduced this legislation in November following the October launch of Oversight.gov--a federal website that hosts thousands of IG reports. The launch responded to Heitkamp's repeated calls for greater transparency and accountability across federal agencies -- including in bipartisan legislation she introduced last year that would have required IGs to post unimplemented recommendations on their websites.

"This is an important step toward holding our federal agencies accountable and working to eliminate waste and abuse of taxpayer dollars," said Ernst. "I'm pleased to see the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs pass this bipartisan effort, and hope the Senate will act quickly so we can implement these commonsense practices to ensure transparency across our government agencies and support their efforts to enact critical Inspectors General recommendations."

IGs serve as federal watchdogs within government agencies that investigate and provide recommendations on how agencies can improve operations and address fraud, waste, and abuse. IGs cover a wide variety of issues ranging from cybersecurity issues and grant administration to federal hiring practices and human management practices. In 2017, for the third consecutive year, the IGs identified in their recommendations over $20 billion in potential taxpayer savings.

As a leader of the Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management Subcommittee within the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Heitkamp helped lead a subcommittee hearing on how federal departments and agencies implement recommendations from the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the offices of inspectors general. At the hearing, U.S. Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz testified that for every dollar invested in IGs, there is the potential for $17 in savings for taxpayers, and Heitkamp expressed concern about the need for more transparency and visibility in agencies' efforts to resolve issues of waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement as identified by IGs.

Before the launch of this legislation, Heitkamp met with Horowitz to discuss ways to improve Congressional oversight of his agency's recommendations. During the meeting, Heitkamp reinforced how improving the way open recommendations are posted online could motivate federal agencies to fulfill the recommendations, and help keep Congress better informed about ways to improve operations at federal agencies.

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